Energy-conservation for tactical robot networks

Advancements in mechanical and sensor technologies promise a wealth of new and exciting robotic devices. However, in order for these systems to perform advanced collaborative problem solving, sophisticated communications capabilities must be available. The importance of energy-conservation for general mobile communications has been well established through practical and research experience. The need to conserve energy is particularly acute in robotic tactical environments where large numbers of devices may be deployed for long periods of unattended service. Ad hoc networking protocols are particularly advantageous for robot teams, but they are rarely designed with energy as an important metric. Additionally, the tight integration between motion, mission and network system in a robot allows a high degree of flexibility and control for the purpose of saving energy. In this paper, we propose a variety of methods for exploiting the unique architecture of robots in order to conserve energy used by the network. We illustrate our approaches with examples from our current terrestrial and aquatic robot testbeds.